U/East: Suspected galamsey kingpin arrested for robbery

An alleged illegal mining kingpin operating in the Gbane area of the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, Akwasi Appiah, popularly known as Akwasi Bantama, has been arrested by the police.

He is accused of deploying some illegal miners with explosives into a Shaanxi Mining company site to steal gold ores.

Akwasi Appiah’s activities are believed to have led to the death of some seven illegal miners who were trapped in April 2017.

The Bolgatanga Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Samuel Punobyin, confirmed that, the suspect was arrested on Tuesday night during a swoop, with explosives, weapons, and ammunition found at his abode at Gbane.

The suspect will be arraigned on Thursday, October 19, for possessing weapons and ammunition without authority.

“We got intelligence that the suspect Akwasi Appiah aka Kwasi Bantama, had in his possession weapons, ammunition and explosives which led to a swoop on his premises at the Obuasi site of the Gbane mining area in the Talensi district.”

Upon a search in Akwasi Appiah’s room, one France made pistol, 3 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition, 15 rounds of pistol ammunition, and 15 pieces of 150g explosives were found.”

“We also gathered that, the suspect Akwasi Appiah, supplies these explosives to illegal miners in the area, and so he will be arraigned today[Friday] 19th October, 2017, for possessing weapons, ammunition and explosives without authority” Supt Punobyin stated.